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" Global child mortality rates have decreased significantly since the millennium, a new report reveals. A study carried out by researchers at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows that in 2000, around 9.9 million infants died before reaching the age of five, with this figure falling by around one-third to reach 6.3 million in 2013. However, this is still a significant number of children to pass away before their fifth birthday, with the most common causes of childhood mortality being listed as complications arising from premature birth and pneumonia. In total, these two factors led to almost two million infant deaths in 2013 alone. Previously, diarrhoea has been the third most common cause of death among under-fives, but this has now been replaced with complications relating to childbirth, suggesting that the care of mothers also needs improving in some parts of the world. The study found that deaths caused by diarrhoea, measles, HIV and tetanus all fell at their fastest rates in 13 years during 2013, indicating that improvements to the prevention and treatment of these conditions may have been made. Breaking down the age group slightly, it can be seen that the mortality rate for babies under one month old fell much slower than that for under-fives as a whole, raising concerns that care for newborns may need significant improvements in developing countries in particular. Senior study author Robert E Black commented: &amp;#039;We have seen huge successes, but there is still a long way to go. &amp;#039;Millions of children are still dying of preventable causes at a time when we have the means to deliver cost-effective interventions. And if we don&amp;#039;t continue to devote research, resources and attention to the issue of child survival, we are going to lose the battle.&amp;#039; To lower childhood mortality rates even further, the study&amp;#039;s authors are calling for care improvements to be made in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, as the region currently accounts for 25 per cent of all births, yet 50 per cent of infant deaths. Doctors want greater family planning education in the area, as spacing out births can help to prevent mortality. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a25298/child-mortality-rates-decrease/>